Saina demolishes Jie Yao to enter quarter-finals

Indian ace Saina Nehwal romped into the quarter-finals of the women's singles after notching a comfortable straight-game victory over Dutch Jie Yao in the London Olympics.

The world No 5 Indian tired out the Dutch girl by engaging her in rallies and executing her strokes with perfection to emerge victorious 21-14, 21-16 in 40 minutes at the Wembley Arena.

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After two easy matches in the group stage, it was a good warm-up for the 22-year-old Indian, who will take on either two-time All England champion Tine Baun of Denmark or Sayaka Sato of Japan in the quarter-finals.

Up against the world No 20 Jie, Saina surged to a 11-5 lead and moved to game point in a jiffy when the Dutch girl hit wide.

The China-born Dutchwoman saved a few game points, mainly because of Saina's error in judgement and a couple of loose shots, but could do little against the Indian's beautiful net play.

In the second game, Saina brought out her variations and involved Jie in rallies to lead 11-7 at the break.

Jie fought back to narrow the gap to 14-12, but that did not affect the Indian as she moved to 19-15 with a drop and then executed a cross-court smash to earn match-point.

Jie won a net duel, but when she hit wide later, Saina burst into celebration.

Photographs: Saurabh Das/AP Photo